'American Idol' gets Latin with Lopez

By Stone Martindale Apr 11, 2007, 3:18 GMT

They are back, and the final 8 perform with Jennifer Lopez, (no more J Lo) as the celebrity coach.  Que bueno! for Latin night.

Melinda Doolittle in a sexy black dress sings "Sway." She was amazing. Randy says he was waiting to see what she would do with this genre and that she gave another solid performance. Paula calls it "very sultry, very smooth." She says it was subtle and beautiful. Paula:Simon, however said it was older than she is and that it was very cabaret.

LaKisha Jones dressed salsa hot, best dress I have seen on her. Sings "Conga," She pulled it off. Randy liked it and uttered the chestnut "you made it your own",  Paula says she thought it was a safe performance. Simon queried LaKisha, asking if she agreed with Paula. Simon says its a performance song. You were having fun, I'm not sure how much fun everyone at home would he having." Randy says she dancing and moving, and Simon says the dancing wasn't very good.

Chris Richardson dressed casually, sings "Smooth," Randy says he was wondering how he would do the song and that found himself at the end and added it was very cool. Paula, thought it was "hot, hot performance.  Simon says it wasn't his best vocal, but he preferred it to the first two because it felt more contemporary.

Haley Scarnato wears hot pants again and sings "Turn the Beat Around." Randy keepin' it honest and real dude.. it was really karaoke for him, and it could have been "any bar anywhere." Paula says "she had fun up there." Simon says she has a great tactic: "Wear as least amount of clothes as possible because, look, ... you can't do well in this competition based on your voice because there are much better singers, so all you can do is have fun."

Phil Stacey covered up his noggin with a cap and crooned "Maria, Maria". Randy says he didn't really connect with the passion of the song, and the he found a lot of it boring. He said his upper range is still great, but it didn't all come together, then passed the dog baton to Paula, blah blah, Simon says he's a nice guy and chose a good song, but that he found "no originality in the performance to get excited about.  The Simon cow remark could have waited.

Jordin Sparks in a sexy beige silk top and slim black pants takes a viewer question: "If you were in charge of choosing next week's theme, what would it be?" She says '80s music. She sings "The Rhythm is Going to Get You."  Randy says, "You got it cuz you got it; that was the 'yo factor' on blast." Paula says "you're so authentic" and adorable. Simon says there "OK performances" and that he hasn't seen a progression from anyone tonight.  Shut up Simon, I loved her!

Blake Lewis wears a red shirt and a Bing Crosby golf hat, sings "I Need to Know," Thank the Lord no beat boxing or moonwalking. Randy: "Hot performance, hot song," Paula says it was a "very smart performance" and that "it captured the essence of who you are." Simon says it was the best song choice of the night and best performance so far. He did great.

Sanjaya Malakar toned down hair, actually looks a bit like Marc Anthony, charmed Lopez, and sings "Besame Mucho." It was his strongest performance ever. Randy says, "check it out check it out that was actually really good." Paula says it was "smooth" and "very, very very nice." Simon says "couldn't understand a word of it, "you sang like a 14 year old, and I'm going to hate myself for this, it wasn't horrible."